Competition and collaboration: Chinese video websites, subtitle groups, state regulation and market

Abstract

Chinese video websites emerged as early as 2005, when video-sharing websites such as the US-based YouTube were launched and sophisticated P2P streaming software became globally available. There were several hundred private Chinese video websites in their heyday, and most operated without authorisation. By 2012, the number of major private video websites had been drastically reduced to little more than ten, all of which had become large-scale businesses. This study argues that the development of Chinese video websites is a story of struggle and self-invention of identity. These websites have undergone a process of oscillation and transformation between piracy and copyright adherence that has involved grassroots Chinese subtitle groups, state intervention and market competition. There are various levels of competition and collaboration inside private video websites, between private and state-owned video websites and between subtitle groups and video websites. In addition, this study also emphasises fan affection and labour invested by some subtitle groups which ambivalently integrates with and yet transgresses the market strategy of video websites.

From divergence to convergence: Institutionalization of copyright and the decline of online video piracy in China

“…Rather, it must be seen as a historically shaped, institutionally dependent, and collectively enacted phenomenon. Hence, compared to extant studies, which either tackle only a single copyright-related parameter or extract a fragment from the long history of copyright institutionalization, this article is something of a first foray into the mystery of the decline of China’s online video piracy, capturing its diachronic, dialectical, and dynamic nature (Hu, 2014b; Zhao and Keane, 2013). Moreover, by applying a comparative and historical analysis, it gains new insights on the exact and explicit roles that different parties undertake on the path toward the copyright enforcement of online videos.…”

“…Further, in 2013, more than a half of copyright disputes over information network transmission rights in China occurred in the realm of online videos (Hu, 2014a). Therefore, as suggested by Hu (2014b: 441), although copyright infringement suffered a hard blow, the alleged purpose of anti-piracy was simply a by-product of SARFT’s true intention of political control through media ownership restructuring. Alternatively, in Feng’s (2016: 5) words, China’s authority actually used copyrights as ‘a means to hide the authority’s real intention’ of suppressing the dissemination of politically sensitive content.…”

“…Nevertheless, China’s online video industry has long been bedeviled by copyright trespass. By causing a great revenue loss to copyright holders, piracy has been widely acknowledged as one of the greatest barriers to further development of the industry (Hu, 2014b; Zhao and Keane, 2013). Moreover, as Liu (2012) argues, copyright reforms in China’s audio-visual market impinge directly on the process by which the reinvigoration of China’s cultural industry is officially built as a pillar of the national economy.…”

“…It is interesting to note that China’s online video piracy has gradually disappeared from the market in recent years. To discover why this has occurred, extant scholarly discussions have examined issues of judicial regulations, state administrations, market competition and ideological conflicts (Han, 2011; Hu, 2014b; Zhao and Keane, 2013). However, in view of the multiplicity of stakeholders involved, the literature is far from providing an analysis of a holistic, historical, and dialectical nature.…”

Zimuzu and Media Industry in China

“…Chinese subtitle groups and online audiences want to transgress national limitations and get in touch with global popular culture." 4 With these factors-foreign, unlicensed entertainment-ZMZ audiences share similar characteristics to the ZMZ team members themselves: they are young, technophiles, perhaps questioning or countercultural. How many viewers are there?…”